Auditor role clarified?

Reflecting the ongoing controversy over the role of the city’s independent, internal auditor, a divided City Council this afternoon voted to add a pair of citizen members to a council committee that oversees the Auditor’s Office, one of the handful of city agencies that answer directly to the mayor and council.

It took a few hours of debate, and a hastily convened executive session, before the council decided to accept a recommendation that two citizens with professional expertise in the area of accounting and audits be added to the council’s audit committee.

Several council members argued, without success, that putting citizens on the panel would make them take criticism that should be more properly aimed at elected officials. They also argued, again without success, that the proposed process would not make the auditor’s functions more transparent, nor would the plan guarantee that the audtior would function independent of political influence from council or city staff.

The independent auditor’s role was established by the will of the voters in 2001. There have been seven different auditors at the helm in the past seven years, according to Park Pearson, the interim auditor. The last two auditors left their posts after effectively being forced out. The last auditor, Pete Gonzales Jr., created a firestorm when he decided he’d perform an audit of Parks and Recreation playground equipment without first having cleared his proposal with the audit committee.

Angry councilmembers and City Attorney Michael Bernard said Gonzales was being insubordinate to his employers, the council.

Gonzales argued that he was only attempting to exercise the independence guaranteed the office by the city charter.